Reviews of Blueridge BR-40 Contemporary Dreadnaught Guitar

Customer Ratings:

I'm a music industry professional, teacher, performer, songwriter. Recent travels took me to North Carolina where I played the BR-40 and absolutely loved it. I had played dozens of guitars in showrooms along the way and this was hands down the best sounding guitar I played. I was shopping in the $1000-1500 range, but this far less expensive guitar had impressive tone. I brought a chromatic tuner and checked the fretted notes. Intonation is flawless on all but the 6th string, which becomes slightly sharp on higher frets. This is easily corrected by a decent luthier who can file the saddle to shift the end point for that string.

The appearance was very clean and the finish was nice, although not completely glassy on the top, i.e. some slight grain texture apparent in the finish. I assume they kept the coats thin on the top to keep it light and responsive. The back and sides have a great gloss that is indeed glassy and smooth. The entire guitar is very light and you can tell that the wood was shaved to a very tight tolerance. The tone is responsive and deep, with great detail. Even the fourth string rings with plenty of low-end authority.

The grafted headstock is small and nicely detailed with inlay work. The joint is on the stock itself, rather than behind the first two frets, a system that can be problematic in some instruments I've encountered. The tuners are simple, but sturdy and seem to hold tune well (I've had it less than two weeks). The body is top-bound with a single strip of black. The book-matched mahogany back is gorgeous, void free, and finished to a deep luster.

Clearly Saga musical instruments (parent company of Blue Ridge) is making a superior solid-top at an incredible price. Nothing too fancy, just all the right parts assembled well and no unnecessary frills. I played a few of these and found one that seemed superior to the others with regard to depth and presence. This guitar might actually have too much bass for a pick player. I play fingerstyle and love being able to articulate bass lines with such power. My $1000 Takamine Jumbo has become a wall hanging since this guitar came home with me! I have nicknamed it the Blue Boomer. A recent trip to the studio confirmed my suspicions. The guitar has a great voice, deep and woody without losing the character of the middle strings. High notes are clear and bright and the response seems very even. I sing in the James Taylor range and the guitar supports my voice beautifully.

Highly recommended.

Click Here For Most Helpful Customer Reviews >>

I've had one of these guitars for a few years now, and it's great. I'm a rank amateur, but have had several pros borrow it and compliment me on the rich sound, even in comparison to their preferred big name brands.

I haven't taken meticulous care of it, but the neck is still straight and have had no problems.

When I bought it, I couldn't play at all yet, so I had my friend/teacher play nearly all of them in the store. This one was the clear winner!

------------------

UPDATE 2010: I bought this guitar in 2005. Five years later, I still don't take meticulous care of it, and the musician in my life swears it sounds and plays better than his high-end Gibson. I have never changed the strings, I don't do much more than dust it periodically, and it sits on a stand in my living room rather than in the case. And it STILL sounds rich and beautiful.

------------------

UPDATE 2012: Still just sits on a stand in the living room, still straight neck, still original strings, and still sounds like a dream.

Best Deals for Blueridge BR-40 Contemporary Dreadnaught Guitar

I grabbed one of these today, and I was totally blown away by it. I played Martins, Taylors, Eastmans, and even more expensive Blueridges, all with the same strings, and none of them had rich mids like this one. Most acoustics seemed to be voiced for heavy bass and treble, but this one is just nice and full, without being overly boomy or weak. Extremely loud, too.

Honest reviews on Blueridge BR-40 Contemporary Dreadnaught Guitar

Not wanting to risk my Martin D-18 Vintage in the cold and the heat when I have to leave my guitar in the car for a few hours, I picked up a BR-40. For what they cost they are a heck of a deal. While it cost about ten percent of my Martin D-18 Vintage(I paid $236 in Dec 2010), it delivers about fifty to sixty percent of the performance. To me that is a mighty fine tradeoff. If you really try to crank on it, it comes up short to my Martin but even with that being said, it is a great guitar for the next to nothing it costs. I would recommend one to anyone who is starting out or who is looking for a guitar to play around the fire, or at the beach, etc. I don't know how they can make a guitar for this little money. I would guess the compensation packages in China are similar to what Martin was paying in the 1930's!

If on the other hand you are an experience player looking for a full time guitar I would consider something in the BR 140-BR 180 or higher range

Find helpful customer reviews and review ratings for Blueridge BR-40 Contemporary Dreadnaught Guitar

I am giving this a full 5-Stars. Obviosuly, there are better guitars out there, but for the price I paid ($329), it can't be beat. Now, this guitar sells for more, and I would have paid more for it -but, glad I didn't ;) ... I watched Amazon and a few other sites for weeks. The 'normal', and current, price on Amazon is $405. About a week ago, it dipped to $359, and I almost bought it that night. Then, next morning I woke up and it was $329!! -thanks Amazon!! Of course, I jumped on it. I received it yesterday -one day sooner than expected-and that same day the price jumped back up to $405 (current). So, I definitely bought at the right time (fyi --list price on Saga Music (Blueridge parent company) is $595.)

Now, for the guitar itself, I would say it is worth every penny of Blueridge MSRP. But, you can find this pretty much anywhere cheaper (between $400/$500 on most sites). The BR-40 really delivers when it comes to playability, tone, aesthetics (not overdone unless you get the higher end models), etc. It hums along very nicely. It was packaged well. Not a blemish on it. And fear not the laminate sides/back. I suppose a professional luthier may notice a significant difference, but you won't. It was my bad fortune to break my picking thumb nail down to the skin two days before the guitar arrived, so have not been able to determine how it handles finger-picking, but all signs point to very well.

So, if you are looking for a new guitar and are considering this model, I highly recommend watching the prices on a few differnt sites for a few days and striking while the iron is hot, so to speak. But, you could not go wrong even at the Saga Music MSRP. It's just a fantastic guitar for the money.

UPDATE: Wow the price point on this has been all over the place. It's now (9/12) $365 on Amazon. Jump on it!!